Chapter 276

The little girl jumped down from the couch and held Alden‘s hand. Although she did not
speak, her demeanor made it obvious.

Alden held her hand and walked outside while he said, “You should stay away from the Winters
brothers.”

Melody pursed her lips and said in an extremely soft voice, “George…”

Alden trembled.

When Melody spoke for the first time, she had called Duke “Dad.” When she spoke for the second time,
she had also called Duke “Dad.”

It was her third time speaking, but she was uttering George‘s name.

It had only been Melody and George‘s first real meeting. Just one meeting was enough for George to
enter her world?

He took a deep breath and said in a lower voice, “George and Harold are biological siblings, so Dew is
also George‘s mother.”

As soon as he said that, he saw Melody instantly lose all her energy like a deflated balloon.

She was like a blooming orchid in the valley that instantly wilted and lost its scent.

At that moment, Alden regretted it.

Someone else had finally entered her world, but he had burst her bubble and exposed the truth.

Melody had already pushed Harold away.



Now, she had also pushed George out of her closed world because of what Alden had said.

“Get into the car. I‘ll send you back.”

Duke put on his coat and walked out. He pulled open the car door for the back seat. Then, he bent
down and carried Melody into the car.

He could sense that her emotions were in a worse state than they were earlier.

He cast a glance at Alden.

Alden looked away and lowered his head to enter the car. Duke drove, and as he held the steering
wheel, he spoke in a casual fashion. “Does Mel have any friends in preschool?”

Alden snapped out of his daze, pursed his lips, and said, “Yes, our classmates in preschool enjoy
playing with Mel.” “You‘ve filtered the classmates who can approach Mel, haven‘t you?” Duke said
indifferently.” Mel‘s social circle is actually your social circle. Am I right?”



Alden looked up. “Uncle Duke, what are you trying to say?”

“You strictly filter everyone who approaches Mel, and you chase away anyone who could possibly hurt
her. You think you‘re protecting her, but you might, in fact, be making her close

her heart more.” Duke continued to drive as he said, “When people are born, they feel happy. angry,
and sad. They laugh, cry, and feel joy as well as sadness. But autistic children have a lower perception
of these emotions in comparison to normal people. There‘s a door that separates them from our
colorful world.



“You‘ve blocked all the people who might hurt her. That means you‘ve blocked half of her emotional
senses.” Duke paused for a while before he resumed. “You think you‘re doing this for Mel‘s sake, but
you‘re also injuring her on another level.”

Alden was shocked.

At 6.30 pm, Adina parked her car in front of the Daugherty family‘s mansion. Before she entered, she
could smell the strong aroma of food. It made her recall the nights when she would come home from
school many years ago.

Ruby had done a very good job on the surface. The family would always be warm, harmonious, and full
of laughter.

She had been too naive at that time. She did not notice the conspiracies behind their laughter.

Adina suppressed her memories before she walked into the Daugherty family‘s mansion.

The servant immediately came forward and led her into the dining room.

“Addy, I thought you weren‘t coming back.” Ruby flashed her a motherly smile. “I purposely prepared
your favorite food. It‘s the same steak with barbecue sauce I used to prepare five years ago. Whenever
I made this dish in the past, you would eat a lot of it…” Adina curled her lips slightly. “It‘s been five
years. My taste changed a long time ago.” Not only had her taste changed, but she had also changed.
She was no longer that naive and foolish Adina.


62fb1bb41dcb31934bd49bda